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Page 235
that, had he not been your lord, I would have struck him in the face."
"Oh, do not do that," Alinor managed to get out, and then could control herself no longer and burst out laughing. Sir Giles stiffened still more, drew in his breath sharply, and began to turn away. Alinor clung to his arm, gasping. "Please, please, do not be angry," she begged. "I am not laughing at you. Indeed, I am not. Ian was easy enough until he looked away, was he not?"
"He looked a little as if his mind was elsewhere, but, yes, he was courteous enough."
"His mind is elsewhere," Alinor chortled.
"I am sorry if I intruded my small matter upon some great affair," Sir Giles said even more stiffly.
"His great affair is between his legs," Alinor remarked crudely. "His words were for you and meant as a compliment. His black look was for me. My lord is a little wroth because I insist that we wait for the priest's blessing."
A look of illumination spread slowly across Sir Giles face, and he broke into a broad grin. His eyes ran over Alinor. "Poor man," he said feelingly.
"I am sure he will do his best for your son," Alinor added when she stopped laughing at Sir Giles's sincere sympathy for a tormented man. "What do you desire for the boy?"
"You know I can give him nothing," Sir Giles responded soberly. "A horse and armor, a little money. If he does not have a place where he can get honorable service, he must go the tourney route or sell his sword in whatever war he can find."
"Let me think upon it," Alinor said. "William of Pembroke would have taken him, but that is no safe house for the boy to be in at this time. We will find something," she assured him.
Later in the evening she noticed that Ian had hobbled over and was speaking earnestly with Sir Giles. Alinor

 
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